Canadian snowbirds gear up to head south for winter

Canadians Ian and Heather Stewart are savoring the idea of leaving behind this winter’s subzero temperatures when the U.S. reopens its borders to nonessential land travel next week and they launch a long-delayed drive to their seasonal home in Fort Myers, Florida. Restrictions imposed by both countries during the coronavirus pandemic and their own concerns kept the retired couple and millions of other Canadians from driving south to warmer climes like Florida, Arizona and Mexico during last year’s freezing winter months. [Source: AP]

Sports betting kicks off, quietly, in Florida

The Seminole Tribe on Monday quietly launched online sports betting in Florida, amid continuing legal challenges to a gambling deal approved by state lawmakers in May. The tribe’s highly anticipated rollout of sports betting in the state came with no fanfare, and a spokesman declined to comment when asked about the launch. But social media erupted Monday afternoon after the Seminoles’ Hard Rock Sportsbook allowed players in Florida to download an app enabling them to make deposits and place wagers on professional football, hockey and soccer games and make bets on other sports. [Source: News Service of Florida]

Et tu, Tegu? Florida scientists, FWC fight against alarming increase of invasive lizard

A large lizard that is sometimes kept as a pet is wreaking havoc on Florida’s native wildlife and scientists at the University of Florida are working on a solution. Argentine black and white tegus have spread and established populations in and around Florida at a rapid and growing rate and that could have critical implications for natural areas and even restoration efforts for Everglades National Park, according to UF scientists at the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. [Source: WJXT]

Pushback on Governor Ron DeSantis’ special session

The special session of the Florida Legislature called by Governor Ron DeSantis is less than two weeks away. It was called to deal with mask policies, vaccine requirements, and other COVID-related issues, but as of Tuesday, there was still no specific language for lawmakers to chew on. With lobbyists in the hallways, Florida’s Capitol resembled pre-pandemic days this week, but vaccines and mask mandates are very much on the agenda in the coming special session. [Source: WJHG]

The cost of the pandemic: How Tampa Bay lost billions from COVID-19

Every number tied to COVID-19 — jobs lost, businesses shuttered, cases, hospitalizations, deaths — is hard to fathom. But the cost of the pandemic is as mind-boggling as any of them.  It’s rough math. No formula is capable of calculating economic impact on a scale this severe, largely because the numbers are still changing.[Source: Tampa Bay Times]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Visit Florida extension takes first step [News Service of Florida]
Senate Commerce and Tourism Chairman Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater, started to move forward Tuesday with his proposal to extend the life of Florida’s tourism-marketing agency into the next decade. The Commerce and Tourism Committee unanimously approved the proposal (SB 434), which would extend from Oct. 1, 2023, to Oct. 1, 2031, the “sunset” date for Visit Florida. The agency has been leading efforts to draw tourists back to the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.

› Video platform Rumble announces HQ move to Sarasota County [Tampa Bay Times]
Rumble, an online video hosting service that has become a major platform for conservatives and right-wing media figures — including former President Donald Trump — is coming to Tampa Bay. The company announced that it’s relocating its U.S. headquarters from New York to Longboat Key, near Sarasota, and plans to invest $50 million in the state in the coming years.

› Raymond James Stadium concession workers were shorted on tips for months [Tampa Bay Times]
Some concession workers at Raymond James Stadium were shorted on tips for months due to what the stadium’s food and beverage vendor has since said was a “clerical error.” Legends Hospitality, which provides the stadium’s food and beverage services, cited a mistake by a third-party staffing agency that was supposed to dole out the tips.

› Disney’s Lake Nona move means big gains for company but likely staff losses, too [Orlando Sentinel]
After 14 years at Disney, California-based Imagineer Kevin Lively chose to leave the company because it was moving his job across the country. His position, like about 2,000 others in Disney’s Parks, Experiences and Products division, is coming to Lake Nona as soon as Disney shifts the division to Orlando by December 2022. Many of Lively’s peers in the division are having to make the same difficult choice to uproot their lives for Disney.

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› Technology company divests business for $2.68 billion [Business Observer]
A Lakewood Ranch technology company made the decision to divest one of its businesses for $2.68 billion — in cash. Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd. is expected to take over TransCore from Roper Technologies Inc. early next year. Roper made the announcement in October.

› FSU’S Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship receives $250K grant to support programs for military veterans [FSU News]
The Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship at Florida State University received a $250,000 grant from the Small Business Administration to help fund programming aimed at supporting veterans. The announcement comes as the SBA celebrates National Veterans Small Business Week.

› Spinoff of ‘Masked Singer’ brings live show to Tampa [Tampa Bay Times]
A spinoff of The Masked Singer is a live show that is coming to Tampa’s Straz Center for the Performing Arts with a “local celebrity” in the mix of costumed singers. The premise of the hit Fox reality show is that it is a singing competition guessing game. The performers are celebrities wearing elaborate head-to-toe costumes to conceal their identities.

› North Jacksonville VA clinic approved at $64.2 million [Jacksonville Daily Record]
The city issued permits Nov. 1 for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic and domiciliary in North Jacksonville at a combined construction cost of $64.2 million. The 21-acre site is at 15678 Max Leggett Parkway. The city approved site clearing in December at northwest Hyatt Road and Max Leggett Parkway.